Top 10 most destroyed cities in movie history

If you are a movie fan of any description, you will have seen cities destroyed for affect in lots of films over the years. With the fear of global warming in the back of cinema goers minds, movies such as The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 set the stage for global destruction, playing on our own fears. But we still watch in awe as the Empire state building is swept away in a giant tsunami or the Golden Gate bridge shatters into Arctic ice. Somehow our cities have become emblems of our existence and film makers use the destruction of some of these iconic places, to emphasis the fall of mankind.

It is incredibly effective, the destruction of the White House for example in 2010 practically screams the end of life on earth, and the sheer expanse of destruction in L.A in Skyline, highlights the power of the aliens and just how they intend to destroy our race. There are however a number of cities that seam to always fall foul of this fate, Its almost hard to imagine an action film or scifi without a huge section of New york or LA being destroyed, and it seams like most directors are determined to take out Manhattan and Downtown L.A in every movie.

Games also target our large cities, taking out our most revered landmarks and reducing our Capitol cities to rubble.

But what other places do directors love blowing up and flooding or hitting with an earth quake? this list is the top 10 place that have appeared in disaster movies.

1. New York, NY

The big apple has had a bite taken out of it by aliens more than once over the past 10 years, from the giant alien crafts of Independence day, had its building clawed and trampled by not one but three monsters in the shape of a giant marshmallow man, Godzilla and Cloverfield. Its been shaken to the core in Deep Impact and Armageddon and then had all the mess washed away in The Day After Tomorrow.

Movies:Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Ghostbusters, Escape From New York, Cloverfield, Godzilla, Deep Impact, Knowing, King Kong, Watchmen, even Superman and War of the Worlds

2. Los Angeles

LA has seen its fair share of destruction, from being scorched in Volcano, to being obliterated by alien fire in Skyline. Los Angeles sunshine is darkened many times in movies like Transformers and Terminator 2 when a nuclear shock wave wipes it from the planet.

3. Washington, D.C

The White house never comes off well in a disaster movie, being such a well known landmark and much loved by the U.S, its pretty much a given that someone is going to take it out in a movie. One of the best destruction’s of the White house has to be in Independence day when the aliens fire a blue beam of energy down into the building and it explodes in brilliant blue light.

Movies:Independence Day, Zombieland and 2012

4. Paris, France

Being one of the most renowned romantic cities, some naughty people might enjoy the idea of it being obliterated in a mass of boiling lava or wiped out by a giant tidal wave. Of course Paris, being the destination of choice for many young Americans, appear in quite a few disaster movies, from The Day After Tomorrow to the Zombie outbreak of 28 Weeks Later.

The image of these two gargoyles watching silently from the roof of Notre Dame as a blast cloud approaches the city, is perhaps the most poignant image from Armageddon, an otherwise over hyped load of tosh.

5. London

We might not own half the world anymore, but the U.K does have many significant landmarks that look great being destroyed. In Reign of fire we see a gigantic dragon perched on top of big Ben, other spewing flames down over what is left of St Paul’s.

More recently it has been destroyed in the low budget production ‘Flood’ and in Harry Potter the Half-Blood-Prince the death eaters destroy the Millennium Bridge.

Movies: (28 Days/Weeks Later) Flood, Reign of Fire, Harry Potter Half-Blood Prince. The Day the Earth Caught Fire, War of the worlds (original)

6. Las Vegas

While they are gambling in side the whole city is being torn apart outside, Vegas is one of the most unusual cities on the planet. Its fake pyramids and Sphinx being only part of the bizarre image of this desert surrounded city of dreams. But in disaster movies, these dreams of wealth turn into carnage as aliens and mother nature alike, love tearing pleasure culture to the ground, and stamping on it for good measure.

Movies; (Mars Attacks/Resident Evil: Extinction) 2012

7. San Francisco

You would always think that San Franciso had been in more disaster films, but it does generally get overlooked for New york or L.A. In X Men ‘Last Stand’ Magneto takes it open himself to destroy the golden gate bridge so that we can reach Alcatraz.

8. Rome

Possibly one of the most beautiful and iconic cities on earth, Rome has avoiding destruction in many movies but was destroyed in the Core and the recent 2012. Rumour has it that the Vatican sued the movies director Emmerich, because he destroyed the Sistine chapel in his movie 2012.

Movies; The Core, 2012

9. Chicago

There are probably more, but the one that stands out for Chicago is the mess the making of Transformers 3 made to downtown Chicago in the upcoming movie. I also remember the Towering inferno was in Chicago and that was an awesome movie.

Movies; Transformers 3, Towering inferno

10. Tokyo

From childhood i remember Japan being destroyed by giant lizards, which were basically normal sized pet iguanas that had been dumped on a toy version of the Tokyo and look about confused as directors prod them to move forward.